The Raid 2

If you missed Gareth Evans’ exhilarating sequel to his critically-acclaimed, Indonesian martial-arts film "The Raid" during its unfortunately brief run in theaters, fear not, for "The Raid 2" is now out on Blu-ray, presenting all of the thrilling action sequences in a stunning high-definition transfer.

The film picks up right where the original left off, and even if you’re unfamiliar with the first movie it’s fairly easy to put the introductory pieces of exposition together and enjoy "The Raid 2" as a stand-alone work. Iko Uwais reprises his role as Rama, a cop who is forced to go undercover yet again, this time by befriending the son of a local mob boss while in prison to infiltrate his father’s clan of thugs as an informant to the police. Unfortunately, Rama realizes that the gangsters he’s been assigned to take out are only a small factor when it comes to the city’s gargantuan wave of crime, resulting in a series of fight sequences that are as viciously violent as they are beautifully staged.

The 1080p transfer presents all of the masterfully choreographed carnage in sharp, vivid detail amidst the 2:40.1 aspect ratio, with the DTS-HD Master Audio providing crisp sound for the bone-crunching brutality of its set pieces. Make sure that you watch the film in its original, Indonesian audio track with English subtitles in order to get the more authentic cinematic experience that Evans intended; the English-dubbing is bland, and nullifies a good portion of the film’s emotional intensity.

In terms of the special features, the Blu-ray release contains a feature commentary from Evans, an explosive, if convoluted deleted scene titled ’Gang War,’ three making-of featurettes (which mainly focus on the choreography of the film’s various fight sequences), a Q&A with Evans, Uwais and Joe Trapanese at the Cinefamily Theatre in Los Angeles, the theatrical trailer, and previews for other coming attractions from Sony Pictures.